[Medical standards and guidelines--definitions and functions]

Clinical practice guidelines are systematically developed statements to assist important professional and patient decisions about appropriate health care for specific circumstances. The main aim of Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) is to promote and support good clinical practice and inform the public about it, while taking into account the resources available. There has always been a body of opinions providing guidance to individual professionals. The novel aspect of evidence-based guidelines is both the systematic way in which they are developed and their explicit nature. CPGs must be developed using state-of-the-art methodology and be critically appraised before implementation is considered, though many use methods that are not robust or of uncertain quality or origin. Such clinical practice guidelines have several primary and secondary functions. They can be employed to support health care decisions and to provide information about cost effectiveness, be referred to in legal proceedings, and they can help to link research, education and practice. All these functions are dependent on each country's societal values and situation. The basic approaches are discussed in more detail according to the recommendations of the Council of Europe published in 2001.